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Unconfirmed reports claim online gambling banning bill will be debated in the House
After months of political manouevering, media speculation and lobbying (see previous InfoPowa reports) there were unconfirmed reports this week that the merged Goodlatte and Leach Bills, which seek to cripple online gambling in the United States, may be debated as early as July 12 in the House of Representatives.
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The Goodlatte/Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act has been included in the 'American Values Agenda' being proposed by the majority Republicans in the House of Representatives and will therefore receive earlier attention than was thought likely by many observers.
The Washington Post opines that it remains unclear whether the Senate will pass similar legislation as Congress scrambles to finish its work before the November general elections. Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl has introduced a bill similar to Leach's House bill but it has languished in the Senate.
Legislative time for the 2006 sessions is rapidly running out, and even assuming the legislation makes it through the House there will likely be additional delays in getting it through the Senate before the current session ends. If that happens, online gambling will have escaped another annual round of banning attempts and the entire process will have to be initiated again in 2007, if at all. And a change of federal government could
well have taken place by then.
Meanwhile, pressure from the land gambling interests and more sensible politicos is growing for a sensible and independent Congressional investigating committee to look at the pros and cons of online gambling and its potential for the positive as well as the negative.
Many industry observers are of the view that such an enquiry should have been the point of departure in the first place....
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